Crime
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong has established a special division to reduce violent crime.
Merchants respond to violence in Oakland’s Chinatown. Volunteers organize to offer protection.
Last Tuesday, Oakland City Council renewed the Police Department’s contract with the cloud-based software company Forensic Logic for use of its data-sharing platform COPLINK. COPLINK, which has been used by OPD since 2012, allows officers to search and analyze data shared by “several thousand law enforcement agencies across the United States.” The contract costs the city a total of $704,000 over a three-year period. The resolution passed 7-0. Councilmember Nikki Fortunato-Bas (District 2) abstained from voting citing concerns over third-party…
After over four decades of disenfranchisement, Californians on parole now have the right to vote. Because the U.S. invests heavily in mass incarceration, the number of people who have lost their right to vote because of their parole status has risen from 1.7 million Americans in 1976 to 6.1 million in 2016. This act would start to reverse those numbers. In Alameda County, an overwhelming majority of residents voted to make this possible. 74% of the population voted to restore…
The Oakland Police Commission announced four finalists under consideration for the role of Oakland’s next Chief of Police. The position has remained open since Chief Anne Kirkpatrick was fired by Mayor Libby Schaaf last February.
The measure represents a turning point for the Oakland Police Commission, the civilian body that oversees the Oakland Police Department.
Encrypted social media allows a broad range of people to communicate safely, from organizers of protests against police brutality to LGBTQ+ youth looking for a community to reach out to when they feel unsafe. A potential new federal law threatens to take away many of these secure methods of communication.
Mental Health First Oakland is a new alternative to calling 911 for mental health emergencies.
Commissioner Tara Anderson described the policy as “one of the most progressive use of force policies in the country.” But some advocates say the policy does not go far enough to change the department’s practices.